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Sheesh - according to the Swiss Ramble, Bayern had total commercial deals of 163M Pounds in 2011-2012, which is about 190M Euros in today's exchange rate. HAHAHAHA what a joke - by the way apparently Platini's son works for PSG or the ownership in some capacity.

In less fascistic news, tonight the Sounders can awake from their slumber in a "do or die" v. Colorado. I am trying to raise my personal self-interest in this, but am having trouble (esp. after watching my DVR of La Viola/Napoli).

Spurs sure made hard work of Hull's B- team. As frustrating as that was, it did set up Brad Friedel being the hero in a penalty shootout, probably for the last time in his career. It also happened to be Tottenham's first win in a penalty shootout since 1994. They had been 0 for their last 7!

Yup. The data came from a question about what minute featured the most goals (the questioner guessed Minute 60). They noted that the 45th and 90th minute were disproportionately large because they included 90+1, 45+3, 90+Fergie etc...

So the two big EPL match over the weekend is Arsenal-Liverpool and Everton-Spurs. Obviously there will be a lot of overreaction as to who wins or loses, but it'd be nice to see how two good teams play against each other. What do the Spurs' fans think will happen at Goodison? I hope it isn't another 0-1, although Martinez probably wouldn't let that happen. There is also the South Wales Derby I'm sure there is a sheep joke somewhere there...

My projections have 1-1, 1-0 and 0-1 as the most likely outcomes. Until Spurs start playing like the high-powered attacking side I think they can be, I'm not going to bet too heavily on anyone scoring more than a goal in the match. Everton's attack has actually slowed down quite a bit after romping up big numbers of high-quality shots in the first couple weeks. Spurs are getting really thin at the back, though, with Danny Rose still out and Kyle Naughton in doubt. I think that if we're going to have an exciting game, it will probably be with Everton's wide attack overwhelming an exhausted Spurs back four.

Arsenal-Liverpool looks a lot more likely to be fun. Arsenal have very good underlying defensive stats (other than penalties conceded), but I'm still not sure how much I buy that subjectively. If they can stifle the best attacking partnership in the league, even in a home game, that will be a huge accomplishment. Liverpool continue to play exciting matches with lots of shots back and forth, so hopefully we get one of those.

I think Mertesacker is going to have a problem with Sturridge and Suarez. I don't think Vermaelan will be any better because his positioning is really bad. Flamini is a big miss. Arteta is very disciplined with his positioning but he isn't the most mobile or physical and fouls a lot in bad positions. Its going down to who can take their chances better - Suarez and Sturridge have the edge over Giroud. I guess it always comes down to that but the middle is going to be flooded and there are going to be a lot of counters. It would be better for Arsenal if they had Theo back to exploit the lack of speed in the center backs and on the counter.

Dortmund playing some pretty soccer against Stuttgart, up 4-1. They've moved Mkhitaryan into Gundogan's role while Ilkay's been out and it's been the best move Klopp's made since Lewandowski took over for Barrios. Mkhitaryan's like a pacey version of Gundogan. So fun to watch.

That was some great second half adjusting from Newcastle today. The looked limped and passive in the first half and came out much more physical and pressing in the second half which seemed to shock Chelsea for a good 30 minutes. I suspect Chelsea spent the half fine tuning how they were going to unlock a packed in Newcastle defense and then Newcastle came out throwing haymakers.

In better Norwich news, Soton equalizes at Stoke. The Canaries need three, of course, and Stoke might need to be one of the three (Fulham very possibly being another along with Palace). And there's Sunderland, but somehow I don't think that's happening.

You can put on Hull-Sunderland and watch Altidore continue his journey out of the PL for the second time. I know everyone wants to love him here, but he's been awful again. He's every bit a part of the problem with the Sunderland side. I guess Michael Bradley really is the difference maker.

Fulham get a goal back on a speculative shot from outside the box. They are losing 1-3 and still arguably lucky in their shot conversion. I think last week was the time to get in on the ground floor with those 4-to-1 odds on Fulham relegation.

People talk about SaS as the best attacking partnership in the EPL, but I think I'd take Aguero/Negredo. I give Suarez a slight edge on Aguero, though the talent gap is narrowed because Aguero is much more reliable. But I rate Negredo much higher than Sturridge.

I find it interesting that Johnny Two Saints and Chicharito aren't backing called back for the NZ game. I can kind of see the logic, but I really don't agree with it. It'd make a little more sense if they weren't both really in form.

I find it interesting that Johnny Two Saints and Chicharito aren't backing called back for the NZ game. I can kind of see the logic, but I really don't agree with it. It'd make a little more sense if they weren't both really in form.

And a total of seven shots from inside the box, two on target. (That's combined, from both side.) Mah god.

From asking people on the internet, it sounds like Sunderland packed eight men in the box, and Steve Bruce didn't counter with any wide players to stretch the game. So they just took potshots from 30 yards and waited for time.

Arsenal letting Jordan Henderson run untouched to the edge of the box, then not really stopping his run into the box either, was like little I've seen in professional football. Reminded of an NBA team letting Ben Wallace take a 12-foot jumper.

But the rule isn't actually last man, it's denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity, right? Theoretically, pulling a player down in a dangerous 3 on 2 could be called as denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity, it just never is.

This hasn't been the barnburner I expected. Hopefully things will get stretched in the second half.

It looks to me like Liverpool aren't giving Sturridge and Suarez enough support when they break forward. I'm surprised Rodgers is playing it so conservatively with a one-goal deficit.

I agree that Sagna could be basically 100% confident that he could do anything short of stab Suarez in the eyeball and come away with just a yellow. I think that's a bad rule, myself. There's nothing good that comes of incentivizing tackles like that with no attempt to play the ball.

So I'm watching this game and realizing that I'm pulling for Liverpool. Can't tell if that's because they're behind and Arsenal are at the top of the table, or because I like Liverpool more.

Pretty psyched that the Special One went down to the Geordies, though. I like Newcastle because of perceived joint distaste for Thatcher. Really, if there was a team that personified Anti-Thatcherism they'd probably get all of my support.